DILG eyes release of guidelines on arrest of mask violators by Monday

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is eyeing the release of the joint guidelines on the arrest and detention of violators of COVID-19 safety measures on Monday.

“I would expect na sa Lunes tapos na ang legal review at puwede na i-anunsiyo na aprubado na ng bawat panig [ang guidelines],” Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in a Dobol B TV interview.

(I would expect that on Monday the legal review will be done and we can already announce the guidelines approved by the departments.)

This, after Malaya said the DOJ has already signed the guidelines that it drafted.

Malaya said DILG Secretary Eduardo Año and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar have yet to sign the guidelines.

It will be implemented immediately after Año signs the guidelines, Malaya added.

Moreover, he assured that these guidelines will not go contrary to local government units’ ordinances.

“What I can say now is hindi babangga sa local ordinances at hindi taliwas doon kasi alam natin since the beginning hinikayat natin ang mga LGUs magpasa ng ordinance even in the curfew,” he said,

(What I can say now is this will not go against the local ordinances because since the beginning we have encouraged the LGUs to pass ordinances on these violations even in the curfew.)

Last Thursday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Año had agreed “in principle” to approve the guidelines as drafted by the Department of Justice. 

Early this month, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered PNP to investigate and detain for nine hours people who have no masks or are wearing masks improperly in public places.

This prompted the DOJ and DILG to craft guidelines. —KG, GMA News